Where Have You Been, Young Man?
11/22/07 Filed in: Folderol
I've been in Boston since the beginning of August;
first, as associate director of two touring companies
for my pals at Chamber Theatre Productions;
then a return to Stonehill College as Guest
Director for the fall production. I chose to
present Frankenstein Virtuoso, a play by
Louis Phillips that I've had an itch to do since
staging a reading of it at FirstStage in Los
Angeles about 15 years ago. Incredibly, it had
not been produced in the interim. Thus, the
Stonehill production was technically a 'World
Premiere'.
I had a grand time, as I did in 2006 when I
last directed there. The students are eager,
talented, helpful, and cooperative, and the in-house
design staff are amazing. I'm deeply appreciative of
both Kevin Brown and Joan Halpert who were able to
translate my garbled description of a 'Steampunk
influenced mid-20th century' into a highly fluid set
(Kevin) and stunning costumes (Joan). Kevin and his
crew (headed by Chris Kingston) accomplished a near
miracle in completing the set after a few changes of
concept along the way. Joan commands a large crew of
students, and each one performed the job beautifully.
Our make-up and wig designer was Joe Rossi, who has
an impressive list of film, TV, and theatre credits
and is one of the nicest professionals I've worked
with. Joe supervised our student designer and made
sure the trickier aspects of the show encountered no
difficulty. Kathleen Branigan also endured me
tinkering with her poster concept, and delivered a
beautiful, evocative one-sheet.
I was ably assisted by not one, not two but FOUR stage managers, which made working around various class schedules a relatively stress-free affair. And all four (Sarah, Kiera, Kait, and Zukowski) were helpful, hard working, and patient. I hadn't worked with our lighting designer before, but he stepped in for a colleague at the last minute and gave the show a boost, despite several changes of plans along the way, and he was aided by Richie, the crew chief and the efficient, fast-moving duo of Chris and Evan.
As with almost any show, I wish I had more time in rehearsal and more performances, but I think the audiences 'got it'. They seemed to enjoy the show, including some of the more ...esoteric...references and certainly got caught up in the escalating weirdness.
So I'm now back in Charlotte, and next week I'll get a chance to check in on the first of my Chamber Theatre groups, who are in town for three days of performances. I haven't seen this bunch since early September and I'm looking forward to hearing their road tales.
***Click the poster for a Frankenstein Virtuoso photo gallery.***
I was ably assisted by not one, not two but FOUR stage managers, which made working around various class schedules a relatively stress-free affair. And all four (Sarah, Kiera, Kait, and Zukowski) were helpful, hard working, and patient. I hadn't worked with our lighting designer before, but he stepped in for a colleague at the last minute and gave the show a boost, despite several changes of plans along the way, and he was aided by Richie, the crew chief and the efficient, fast-moving duo of Chris and Evan.
As with almost any show, I wish I had more time in rehearsal and more performances, but I think the audiences 'got it'. They seemed to enjoy the show, including some of the more ...esoteric...references and certainly got caught up in the escalating weirdness.
So I'm now back in Charlotte, and next week I'll get a chance to check in on the first of my Chamber Theatre groups, who are in town for three days of performances. I haven't seen this bunch since early September and I'm looking forward to hearing their road tales.
***Click the poster for a Frankenstein Virtuoso photo gallery.***
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